Everything is Obvious

It’s a fact that we rely heavily on our common sense to make most decisions.Yet, personal intuition is reliable only for simple everyday decisions, warns thisbook. When we use it to manage complex situations, we unwittingly make mistakes in our reasoning, because we are subject to cognitive bias and errors in judgment.

The author incites us to acquire the reflex of challenging what seems to beobvious. These are often only constructions of our brain that help us make senseof the world around us. He cites fascinating social psychology experiments to demonstrate that when we believe we are making rational choices, our decisions are in fact determined by thinking patterns difficult to change, as well as by subconscious preferences and theinfluence of our entourage.

Should we thus completely discount the utility of common sense? Certainly not, for intuition is extremely relevant when aggregated collectively. The wisdom of crowds, or the sum of individual common sense, ultimately turns out to be more accurate than the forecasts of the experts.
An enthralling book that encourages us to challenge our certitudes.